Delay for directional preference control for parked elevator cars



May 22, 1956 E B THURSTON 2,746,566

DELAY FOR DIRECTIONAL PREFERENCE CONTROL FOR PARKED ELEVATOR CARS FiledAug. 31, 1953 6 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR.

ERNESZ: E. THURSTON May 22, 1956 B. THURSTON DELAY FOR DIRECTIONALPREFERENCE CONTROL FOR PARKED ELEVATOR CARS Filed Aug. 51, 1953 6Sheets-Sheet 2 'M-h, .u DELAY FOR DLRECTIONAL PREFERENCE CONTROL FORPARKED ELEVATOR CARS I r FOR DIRECTIONA PREFERENCE CONTROL FOR PARKEDELEVATOR CARS 6 Sheets- Shee't 4 DELAY FOR DIRECTI FOR PARKED ELEVATORCARS Filed Aug. 51, 1955 ONAL PREFERENCE CONTROL.

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United States Patent DELAY FOR DIRECTIONAL PREFERENCE CON- TROL FORPARKED ELEVATOR CARS Ernest B. Thurston, Toledo, Ohio, assignor toHaughton Elevator Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of OhioApplication August 31, 1953, Serial No. 377,311 7 Claims. (Ci. 187-29)This invention relates to single or multicar elevator systems and it hasparticular relation to automatic multicar systems wherein elevator carsare started in response to operation of a service control located ateach of the floors served by the elevator car or cars or by servicecontrols located in the elevator car or cars.

In conventional multicar automatic elevator systems, it has been thepractice to locate each of the elevator cars of a bank of cars in aseparate hatchway. Each of. the hatchways is provided with a hatchwaydoor for each of the floors served by the elevator car. The elevatorcars operate between terminal floors and serve a plurality ofintermediate floors. Each of the intermediate floors is conventionallyprovided with an up-service control and a down-service control which arecommon to all of the elevator cars. The upper terminal floor is providedwith a down-service control and the lower terminal fioor is providedwith an up-service control which again are common to all of the cars inthe bank. In addition, each of the elevator cars is provided with acontrol for each of the floors served by the elevator car.

When no demand for service exists in the system, the elevator cars areat rest and all of the doors are closed. In response to operation of aservice control, one of the elevator cars is conditioned to answer thedemand for service from the operated service control.

In the conventional single or multicar automatic elevator system of thetype herein discussed, a service control at an intermediate floor may beoperated while an elevator car is at rest at such floor with itsadjacent hatchway door closed. Under such circumstances, the operatedservice control merely opens the hatchway door and permits the entranceinto the elevator car of a prospective passenger without establishing adirection preference for the elevator car.

In accordance with the invention, operation of a service control at anintermediate fioor while an elevator is parked at the floor with itshatchway doors closed operates not only to open the hatchway doors atthe floor of the operated control, but additionally operates toimmediately prevent, for a predetermined period of time, theestablishing of a preference of direction for this car in response toany other floor service control. As soon as the prospective passengerenters and pushes a car control the preference of direction isestablished.

In multicar automatic elevator systems wherein the driving motors forthe elevator cars are energized from energy-transforming devices, suchas motor-generator sets, the energy-transforming devices may bede-energized when no demand for service exists for the elevator system.When the next demand for service is received, the motorgenerator set orother energy-transforming device for one of the elevator cars is startedor energized. To prevent frequent starting operations of themotor-generator sets or other devices, a time delay may be providedwhich must elapse after the elevator car has answered all calls forservice before the motor-generator set associated therewith may be shutdown. In a multicar elevator systern, one of the elevator cars may beselected as the next car to answer the next demand for service from thesystem.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an elevator systemwherein operation of a service control or hall button at a floor atwhich an elevator car is parked is effective for preventing, for adefinite time interval, the establishing of a preference of directionfor the elevator car by controls other than the car button control inthat particular car.

Another object of the invention is to give the first passenger to entera parked car priority in selecting the next direction in which the carshall go.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for disabling thedirectional preference selection mechanism of an elevator car when thecar doors are opened in response to a floor call at the floor at whichthe car is parked and to hold such means disabled until the enteringpassenger has had time to select his destination floor.

According to the invention the directional preference relays areenergized through either of two circuits, the first of which includesthe car button controls and the second of which includes the fioor callrelays. The circuit through the floor call relays is interrupted by atiming relay which is energized as soon as the car doors open inresponse to a call at the floor at which the car is then standing. Theoperation of this timing relay prevents for a limited period of time theoperation of the directional preference relays in response to hallcalls.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure I is a diagrammatic view of an elevator system comprising twocars serving a plurality of floors.

Figure II is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the means forregistering calls from the car and from the floors.

Figure III is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the directionalpreference control circuits.

Figure IV is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the circuitsemployed for starting the car and for starting the motor generator set.The controls for starting or initiating the door operations are alsoincluded in this figure.

Figure V is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the stoppingcircuits that are effective for initiating the stopping of the elevatorcar in response to a call from the car or from a floor. The relays foroperating the door operating motors are illustrated in this figure.

Figure VI illustrates the relay system for leveling the car as itapproaches a floor.

Figure VII shows circuits including the relays that control theoperation of the elevator driving motor.

These specific figures and the accompanying description are intended toillustrate the invention but not to limit its scope.

Referring now to Figure I an elevator system constructed to embody theimprovements may comprise one or more cars 1 arranged to serve aplurality of floors. The car 1 is supported by cables 2 that are trainedover a drive pulley 3 and connected to a counterweight 4. The drivepulley 3 is mounted on a motor shaft 5 of an elevator drive motor 6. Theshaft 5 is also connected to a floor selector 7 by means including aslippable clutch or other adjusting means not shown in the drawings. Asecond or more cars are arranged similarly to that first described andsimilar reference numerals are used thereon distinguished merely by theaddition of letters such as the letter b.

A series of hall buttons or hall service controls are provided therebeing one such control 8 for each of the terminal floors and a dualcontrol 9 one up and one down for each of the intermediate floors.Furthermore, each car is provided with a car button control board 10having buttons one corresponding to each of the floors to be served bythe elevator.

Leveling switches carried in a casing 11 either along: side of or on topof the elevator car 1 cooperate with magnetic vanes 12 arranged one ateach floor along the hatchway f in addition, although not shown in thedrawings, each of the cars is provided with doors and each of thelandings is provided with hatchway doors, the doors being automaticallyopened and closed by motor operating means when the car arrives at thefloor for the transfer of passengers. in order to meet certain safetyregulations in regard to possible fires etc. in a building the car doorsare closed automatically after a sulficient time for passengers to leavehas elapsed. If there are no further calls for service the car remainsparked with doors closed at the floor at which the last passenger leftthe car.

Electrical circuits for operating the elevator In the wiring diagrams,Figures ii to, VII inclusive, the various relays and contacts are shownin across the line diagrams so as to simplify insofar as possible theshowing of the various circuits. The various relays are identified byletters distinguished by numbers if the relays are duplicated for eachof the floors. The contacts operated by the respective relays carry thesame letter designation as the relay itself. in order to identify andcorrelate the various relay operating coils and contacts a referencecode has been included along the right of each of the diagrams.According to this code each, line of the wiring diagrams is numberedstarting with the number 1; at the top of Figure Ii and continuingsubstantially in sequence to the number 113 at the bottom in Fig re VII.In the code adjacent the line showing the operating coil of a relay is aseries of numbers indicating the lines in which the contacts operated bythat relay coil are located. An underscored number indicates that thecontacts identified thereby are closed when the coil is de-energized.Thus, for example, the car call relay corresponding tothe fourth floorand marked 4C appears in line 2 of Figure H. At the right the codenumbers 28, 77 and 83. indicate that the contacts closed by thisparticular relay occur in line 28 of Figure III and in lines 77 and 830iFigure V.

Figure 11 illustrates the relays for registering hall and car calls.Also are shown the relays initiating thev door reopening and the timingrelay that gives preference to the car calls when the doors are reopenedin response to a floor call from the floor at which the car is parked.The equipment shown in Figure ll includes floor relay trip coils 1U,21), ill etc. up through 4D, 4U and 5D. It also includes car buttonrelay tripcoils 1C5C corresponding to car buttons CBl-CBS. These are thetrip coils of latch relays adapted to store the calls. Also included area car button relay CB anda floor or hall button relay door reopeningrelay DO, timer relay TA, and reset coils for the latch relays. Floor orhall call controls or push buttons HUl to HDS are shown as controllingthe trip coils 1U-5D of the floor relays. Likewise the car buttons CB1to CBS are shown controlling the trip coils 1C-5C of the car buttonrelays.

To register a call from a floor the corresponding button is pushed. Forexample, to register an up call from the second floor the hall controlbutton HUZshown in line 1?. is pushed so that current may flow from theline L1 through the coil of the hall button relay HB- in line 10,through a lead 15, and then through the now closedhall button contactsHUZ and the trip coil 2U of the second fioor up relay. The return sideof each of the floor and car call relay coils is connected to the lineL2; This current trips or unlatches the second floor up relay so that itcloses its contacts shown in lines 33 and 80' thus preparing thestopping circuit for the car and calling thecar to the second floor.Current flow through this circuit energizes the hall button relay HB sothat it closes its contacts HB in line 14 thereby allowing current toflow from the power supply lead L1 through the now closed HB contacts inline 14 and through a lead 16 to the coil of the door reopening relay DOshown in line 14. If the car is at the second floor the doors reopen inresponse to operation of the reopening relay DO. If the car is atanother floor the car starts immediately, comes to the second floor,then opens its doors. The passenger gets into the car and registers hisdestination call by pressing the corresponding car button CB. Thisallows current to flow from the supply lead L1 through the car buttonrelay CB in line 3, through. the now pressed car button and through thetripping coil of the corresponding car call relay. This trips the latchrelay to register the destination call for that car. The car thenautomatically closes its doors and proceeds to the destination floor.

As the car answers each of its calls whether they be hall calls or carcalls a brush 17 (Figure 11) of its selector machine 7 engagescorresponding contacts 13 of the fioor selector so as to completecircuits through reset coils of the various latch relays indicated bythe reference characters lCR, 1UP. for the first floor, 2CR, ZUR, ZDRfor the second floor, etc. This circuit in line 20 also includesnormally closed contacts of a brake relay BR and normally open contactsof an up-down relay UD. The brake relay contacts BK close to completethis circuit whenever a car stops at a floor. Likewise the updowncontacts are closed as long as any call remains to be answered.Therefore, in the arrangement shown, each of the car or floor callrelays is reset as soon as the call is answered provided there is stillanother call to be answered. The last call remains registered untilthere is a further demand for service.

Direction selection circuits Figure III shows the electrical circuitsfor selecting the direction of movement of the car in relation to theregistered calls. The relays shown in this figure include an upselection relay Ul shown in line 25, a down selection relay. D1 in line37, an up locking relay UL in line 33 and a down locking relay DL inline 41. Power is fed from the supply lead L1 to one or both of the upand down selection relays U1 and D1 depending upon theregistered callsand the position of the car. As shown along the left side of the diagramcontacts 1C-5C of the car call relays are shown connected to the lead Llthrough a lead 19, the car call contacts when closed being adapted toenergize a series parallel. arranged circuit of normally closed camoperated switches SlD, SZD and S2U up to SSU. The selection relays U1and D1 are connected between the ends of this series circuit of camoperated switches and the return lead L2.

The hall or floor call relay contacts lU-SD are energized from the leadLit through normally closed contacts TA in line 26 and then through alead 20 connected to the various contacts. The other sides of these hallrelay contacts are connected to the corresponding car call con tacts andthus to the corresponding points in the series circuit of cam operatedswitches. Thus the registration of a call energizes the correspondingjunction in the series circuit of cam operated switches. For example, afirst floor call energizes junction 2-1 while a second floor callenergizes junction 22, a third floor call energizes junction 23, afourth floor call energizes junction 24, and a fifth floor callenergizes junction 25. Cams 26 and 27 of the floor selector machine 7are arranged to open certain of the cam operated switches to isolate thejunction corresponding to the position of the car in the hatchway. Thus,in theposition shown with the car at the third fioor the junction 23 isisolated from the remaining portions of the series circuit. Two cams areusedand certain of the switches are duplicated so that accurate controlof both opening and closing of the circuits between the variousfunctions may be accurately controlled regardless of variations in floorspacing.

With the car at the third iloor position, as illustrated, the junction23 is isolated so that a call car or a floor call at that floor cannotoperate either of the direction preference relays U1 or D1. However,calls at the other floors can energize the corresponding selectionrelays. Thus, the up direction preference relay U1 is energized as longas a call exists above the car whether that call be for up service ordown service. Likewise, the down direction preference relay D1 isenergized as long as a call for service exists below the position of thecar.

Directional locking relays U1 and D1 are also shown in Figure 111. Theserelays are energized from the lead through contacts UF or DF of up ordown field control relays of the motor generator set driving theelevator motor. Thus, if the car is conditioned for upward travel thecontacts UF close to start the car upwardly. This allows current to flowfrom the lead 20 through the now closed contacts UF in line 38 and theoperating coil UL to energize the direction locking relay UL. Thiscircuit is completed to the return lead L2 by way of normally closedcontacts DL of the down direction locking relay. Likewise, the downdirection locking relay DL may be energized by way of the down fieldrelay contacts DF in line 41 and the normally closed up locking relaycontacts UL. The locking relays when energized close their UL or. DLcontacts in lines 39 or 4t) to provide an electrical seal or lock. Thislocking circuit is controlled by normally open contacts T of a timingrelay. The timing relay T coil shown in line 117 of Figure VII of thedrawings is a relay arranged to remain energized for a brief time aftereach demand of service. Thus, the direction locking relay coils UL andDL are maintained in their respective energized conditions until nofurther demand for service exists in the direction that is set up. Whenthe last call in that direction is answered the relay T, a timer relay,drops out thereby allowing a new directional preference to be set up.

Car starting c0ttrr0ls.Alternating current portion Figure TV shows thealternating current operated relay timer contacts, and other controlsthat are used to provide the starting and timing operations for startinga car in response to a call for service. The relay equipment shown inthis figure includes:

A door reclosing relay GL1 controlling the door reclosing operationswhen a car is to be parked at a floor with the door closed;

Door reopening time relay DTO providing a brief interval of time todistinguish between hall calls at the floor at which the car is parkedand other hall calls;

Timer T1, in line 53, arranged to time the interval before the door isreclosed following the last call for service;

Timer MGT, in line 55, arranged to measure a longer time interval afterthe last call is answered before shutting down the motor generator set;

Relays U and UU, lines 55 and 56, arranged for transmitting signals tostart the car in the up direction; similar relays D and DD in lines 59and 60 control the transmission of start signals in the down direction;

Auxiliary locking time relay TA1 in line 63 for controlling thedirectional locking time relay T shown in Figure Vii, lne 117;

Emergency control relay EM in line 64 provides for shutting down otherparts of the equipment in case the control circuits are inoperative forany reason;

Motor generator starting relays LS and LSA in lines 65 and 67 forcontrolling the starting of the motor generator set;

And a service relay UD in line circuits as long as there is a callmovement of the car.

A description of the cooperation of these elements with 68 for closingcertain for service requiring r 6 the remainder of circuits is deferreduntil the remaining" circuits have been briefly described.

Car stopping circuits Figure V illustrates the circuits employed tocause the elevator car to answer calls registered by the floor and carcall relays. This equipment includes an up direction brush 30, shown atline 79, cooperating with up lane contacts 31 of a floor selectormachine which contacts are selectively energized through the contacts ofthe corresponding up floor and car call relays. Also included is a brush32, line 85, cooperating with down lane selector machine contacts 33,these contacts 33 being energized through the corresponding contacts ofthe down floor and car call relays. The relays shown in Figure V includea slow down relay HS appearing at line 85, auxiliary door closingcontrol relay CLA appearing at line 90, retiring cam relay at line 91,door closing relay CL in line 92, and a door opening relay OP in line93. The door opening and door closing relays OP and CL have contactswhich operate the motor arranged to control the door movements. Limitswitches a, c, d (lines 92, 93 and 94) are operated by the car door asit reaches various points of travel so as to de-energize each relay whenits function has been accomplished. The slow down relay HS is energizedwhenever the corresponding brush 30 or 32, selected by instantaneousdirection control relay U or D depending upon the direction of travel,reaches an energized contact or when the car reaches a terminal floorand the directional relays U1 or D1 are released to complete thecircuits from the lead L1 directly to the slow down relay HS. Thecircuit from the slow down relay to the return lead L2 is completedthrough the starting signal relay contacts UU or DD depending upon thedirection of travel. The slow down relay HS seals itself in through itscontact in line 89 as soon as it is energized and remains energizeduntil the direction starting signal contacts UU or DD open as the carcomes to a stop. The slow down relay HS, through conventional motorcontrol circuits causes the motor to slow down preparatory to stoppingat a floor.

Figure VI.-Leveling controls This figure shows the circuits for thevarious relays used in controlling the travel of a car as it approachesa floor. The equipment included is an up leveling control relay LU, adown leveling control relay LD, an auxiliary leveling control relaywhich is controlled by the up and down leveling relays LU and LD, and aslow speed leveling control relay 2L. These are direct current operatedrelays operated from the alternating current circuit by way ofrectifiers 30, 31 and 32. The leveling relays are controlled bymagnetically actuated switches HLU, HLD, 2LU and 2LD arranged in theleveling control box or housing 11 on the side of the car and areactuated by proximity with the iron vanes 12 arranged in the hatchway.The leveling switches HLU, HLD and 2LU and 2LD take over the slow speedand final leveling of a car after the initial slow down has beeninitiated by the slow down relay HS shown in Figure V. The magneticswitches HLU, HLD, 2LU and 2LD are arranged in order in the housing 11with HLU at the top of the housing, 2LU and 2LD spaced apart near themiddle of the housing and HLD at the bottom of the housing. As the caris proceeding upwardly in the shaft the switch HLU is first operated asthe top of the housing 11 comes opposite the bottom of the vane 12. Thisinitiates the second stage of the slow down for the floor. It alsocompletes a circuit to maintain the elevator motor operating in thedesired direction but at slow speed. Further travel of the car closesfirst the switch 2LU and then the switch 2LD. When both are closed therelay 2L is energized to start the final slow down speed range and alsostart the opening of the car doors (see contacts 2L in line 93). Finallyas the car approaches and comes level with the floor the top magneticswitch HLU opens as it passes the top end of the vane thus causing thecar to stop. Should the car overrun slightly the bottom magentic switchHLD closes to reverse the direction of the car to cause it to returntoward the floor level. Thus, the car is finally brought to rest withthe switches HLU and HLD opposite the ends of and just beyond the rangeof cooperation with the magnetic vane.

Motor generator set controls for operating the elevator motor Figure VIIshows a few of the relays and their contacts that are used forcontrolling the direct current portions of the equipment particularlythe relays which control the forward and reverse operation of theelevator drive motor and the relay that controls the electromagneticbrake. As shown in Figure VII the brake relay BK appearing in line 113is energized to release the electromagnetic brake that holds theelevator motor fixed as long as the car is stopped at a floor. Thegenerator field direction relays UF and DF in line 112 and 113 controlthe application of direct current to the generator field and thusdetermine the direction in which the elevator operates. The motorstarting relay M in line 114 is controlled through a timing relay MT(line 113) which in turn is operated by contacts of the brake relay BK.The motor starting relay M comes in or is energized shortly after thebrake relay is energized. Relays LR and AR are part of the motorgenerator starting controls while the timing relay T shown in line 117is part of the time control which determines the length of time that acar will stand before it can reverse.

Operation The cooperation of the various relays and their eifect incontrolling the operation of the elevator is best described by followingthe sequence of events as the various relays operate in starting thecar, causing it to travel to answer a signal, and the stopping of thecar in response to the signal as well as the time of operation of thedoors in opening and closing and in reopening in response to hall callsat the floor at which the car is parked.

Assuming first that the car is standing at the first floor and that ithas been standing there long enough that the motor generator set hasbeen shut down and there are no calls registered. Alternating currentpower is supplied so that the circuits shown in Figures II, III, IV, Vand VI are alive. The circuits shown in Figure VII, which are directcurrent operated are energized by the exciter generator of the motorgenerator set and are dead until the exciter comes up to voltage as theset is started. Assume now that down calls are registered from the thirdfloor and from the fifth floor. These calls are registered by pushingthe corresponding hall button controls RD? and HDS so as to trip orunlatch the hall call relays 3D and 5D. As the first one, in time, to bepushed was pushed the hall button relay l-IB, line 1%), closed itscontacts in line 14' to energize the door reopening relay DO. Relay DOthen opens its contacts in line 50, Figure IV, so as to de-energize thedoor reclosing relay GL1. Relay CL1 thereupon drops out thereby openingits contacts CL1 in line 50 to cut off the supply of power to the doorreopening time relay TDO in line 51.

The tripping of the hall call relays 3D and 5D also completed circuitsfrom L1 and lead at lines 32 and 26, respectively, to energize thedirection selection relay U1 in line 25. Relay U1 thereupon closes itscontacts U1 in line 63 so as to energize immediately the up-down orservice relay UD in line 68. The service relay UD thereupon immediatelycloses its contacts UD in line 52 so as to complete a circuit to thedoor reopening time relay DTO before that relay releases thereby holdingthe relay energized even though the door reclosing relays GL1 has beenreleased.

The operation of the up direction U1 relay also completes a circuitpreparatory to starting the car. This circuit starting from the powerlead L1 in Figure IV leads through emergency stop contacts, then througha safety switch at which is operated by the edge of the door so as to.open it if there is any interference with the edge of the door. Thesafety switch 40 is by-passed by limit contacts C as the door closes andthe edge hits the door jamb. From this point the circuit continuesthrough a manually operable door hold push button 41, normally closedcontacts OP of the door opening relay and then through LR contacts inline 56 which contacts are closed as long as the motor generator set isrunning. From the LR contacts the circuit continues through a lead 42 tonormally closed starting time relay contacts TR in line 69. From the TRcontacts the circuit continues through normally closed directionallocking relay contacts DL in line 62, then through lead 43 upwardlythrough now closed up selection relay contacts U1 in line 56, thenthrough the coils of up signal relays U and UU and finally throughnormally closed contacts DD of the down direction signal relays in line54 and then to the return line by way of a motor generator protectiverelay contact MG? in line 65.

Simultaneously with this chain of events the operation of the UD orservice relay in line 68, which was operated as soon as the signals wereregistered, closed its UD contacts in line 66 to initiate the startingof the motor genorator set. From the alternating current lead L1 currentcan flow through the now closed UD contacts in line 66, through themotor generator stop button, through the coil of the motor startingauxiliary relay LSA, through the safety controls and back to the returnlead L2. The operation of the motor starter auxiliary relay LSA closesits contacts LSA in line to energize the motor starting switch LS.

The motor starting switch L8 is a power relay arranged to connect thethree-phase alternating current drive motor for the motor generator setin Y-connection to the threephase power line. As soon as the motorgenerator set comes up to speed and the exciter generator builds upvoltage, D. C. power is applied from the exciter to leads L3, L4 ofFigure VII. Since the starter relay LS is energized direct current mayflow from the lead L3 in Figure VII through the now closed LS contactsin line 113 to the coil of an acceleration relay AR in line 116. Theacceleration relay AR by closing its contacts AR in line 114 completes acircuit from the direct current lead L3 through the now closed auxiliarystarting relay contacts LSA to the acceleration relay coil AR tomaintain itself energized. As soon as the acceleration relay AR isenergized it opens its contacts AR in line 65 to break the circuit tothe motor starting switch LS. This switch thereupon drops out todisconnect the Y-connection for the motor generator set motor andsimultaneously opens its LS contacts in line 113 and closes the next setof LS contacts in the same line so. as to complete a circuit through theLSA contacts, AR contacts, and the now closed LS contacts to energizethe motor running switch LR in line 115. The motor running switchconnects the alternatingcurrent three-phase motor in delta to the lineso that it runs at full power.

Now the elevator motor field is properly energized so that the fieldprotective relay contacts FP in line 113 are closed and the emergencydevices are all in proper order so that the EM contacts are closed. Theclosure of the signal relay contacts UU in line 112 which close as theresult of the starting signal traced through the relay coils at line 55allows current to fiow at line 113 through the brake relay coil BK,through the up field relay UF, through the now closed UU contacts atline 112 and through the gate switch and other safety switches to thereturn D. C. line L4. The closure of the UF relay in line 112 connectsthe generator field for up direction to drive the elevator motor and theoperation of the brake relay disengages the brake to permit the elevatormotor to start. The completion of the field circuit for the generatorthrough the operation of the UP relay does not immediately energize themclor since that is delayed by the operation of the motor timingcontacts MT in line 114 which close as soon as the brake closes and thusenergizes the motor starting switch M in line 114 which controls thefinal operations for setting the elevator motor in motion.

The ordinary variable voltage controlling arrangements are used tocontrol the acceleration of the car and operation at full speed as ittravels up the hatchway.

The elevator is now under way in the up direction so that it is time toestablish the directional locking relays UL and DL. Since the motorgenerator up field control relay UF at line 112 in Figure VII is nowenergized it closes its UF contacts in line 38 so as to complete acircuit from the lead 20 through the UP contacts and the up directionlocking relay coil UL and then through normally closed down directionlocking contacts DL to the return lead L2. Up direction locking relay ULthereupon is energized and closes its contacts UL at line 39 so as tocomplete a holding circuit from the lead 20 through now closed timercontacts T and the now closed UL contacts. The timer contacts T of thedirectional preference timer are arranged to remain closed during thenormal passenger transfer interval so that the car will not reverseerratically as it answers intermediate calls.

As the car proceeds upwardly and the earns 26 and 27 of the fioorselector machine pass the third floor level the closure of the camoperated switches S2U or S3D allow current to flow from the lead L1through the lead 20, the now closed down signal contacts 3D to thejunction 23 and down to the directional selection relay D1. D1 isthereupon energized but it has no immediate effect on the operationsince the directional locking relay UL has been energized therebyopening its contacts UL in line 60 to prevent any flow of current to thedown direction signal relays D and DD. The car does not stop at thethird floor even though a down signal is there registered because it istraveling in the up direction with the up signal relay contact U in line79 closed and the down signal relay contact D in line 85 open.Therefore, it bypasses the third floor and proceeds upwardly. As itpasses the fourth floor and approaches the fifth floor the cam 26 opensthe cam operated switch SSU thereby de-energizing the direction relay U1in line 25. U1 upon releasing closes its normally closed contacts U1 inline 75 thereby completing a circuit from the lead L1 through the U1contacts in line 75, through the up direction relay contacts U at line79, and then through leveling time relay contacts TL in line 35, thecoil of the slow down relay HS, and finally through the now closedcontacts UU to lead L2. Slow down relay HS seals itself in through itscontacts in line 89. The operation of the slow down relay HS causes theappropriate resistances to be inserted in the generator field circuit tocause the elevator motor to slow down. The operation of the slow downrelay HS, in addition to other relays, causes the release of theleveling time relay TL in line 105 so as to prepare circuits to theleveling relays 2L, LD and LU. These relays are not immediatelyoperated, however, since they are also controlled by the magneticswitches HLU, HLD, 2LU and 2LD. As the car in slowing down approachesthe fifth floor the first magnetic switch HLU comes opposite the fifthfloor vane and is operated so as to complete a circuit through the upleveling relay LU. This relay thereupon closes its contacts at line 110so as to maintain the circuit for the up field relay UF after thecontacts UU open or after the doors start to open. It also opens itscontacts in line 111 to prevent the down field relay DF from beingenergized. It will be noticed that rectifiers 30, 31 and 32 are used inseries with the LU, LD and 2L relays in order to use sensitive D. C.relays and contacts of the magnetic switches. Condensers connected inparallel with the relay coils act as filters to smooth out the currentimpulses.

The operation of the leveling relay LU also opened its contacts in line57 thereby breaking the circuit by which the directional relays U and UUwere held closed. These relays U and UU, which were first energized byway of contacts of the starting time relay TR in line 60, weretransferred to a holding circuit comprising the brake contacts BK andthe leveling relay contacts LU and LD at line 57 as the elevator startedon its trip. The leveling relay LU by breaking this holding circuit andde-energizing the directional relays U and UU transfers the motorcontrol to the leveling relays. As the car approaches the floor at aslower speed the 2LU magnetic switch operates and then finally the 2LDswitch, these operating when the car is about eight inches from thefloor. The closure of the 2LD switch operates relay in line 107 whichcloses its 2L contacts in line 93 to energize the door opening relay OP.

It should be noted that door timing relay DTO (line 51) was de-energizedas the car started by operation of the motor timing relay MT opening itsMT contacts in line 53. Therefore the door starts to open with the carapproximately eight inches from the floor and approaching the floorlevel. As the car reaches floor level the first magnetic switch HLUpasses beyond the end of its range of cooperation with the vane 11thereby releasing the relay LU and since that relay was now controllingthe generator field relay UP and brake relay BK in lines 112 and 113 themotor is stopped and the brake is applied. Should the car overrunslightly the bottom magnetic switch HLD is energized by the cooperationwith the vane 11 so as to energize the down directional leveling relayLD which by the circuits in lines 113 and 111 operates to release thebrake and energize the down generator field relay DF for down movementof the motor.

In Figure V the limit switches a, c, and d are shown in their positionsfor the door open. Limit switch a is set to open just as the doorreaches closed position or slightly before. Limit switch 0 is set toopen as the door approaches open position to de-energize the door openrelay OP. Limit switch d opens just before a as the door approachesclosed position. Thus limit switch d ensures that the doors will open tofull position once they start to open. Incidentally with the opening ofthe doors or the energization of the brake a stopping time or what maybe called a starting time relay TR, not shown in the drawings, isenergized. This relay has contacts shown at line 60 which prevent theestablishing of a starting signal until the timing relay drops out thusproviding a certain interval of time for passenger transfer after thedoors open as the car stops before the car can be started again.

The car having stopped at the fifth fioor and opened its doors theintending passenger at the fifth floor enters the car and selects thefioor to which he desires to go. Suppose that this is the first floor.The passenger registers his floor selection by pushing the car buttonCB1, in line 5, thereby tripping the latch relay 1C. As long as he holdshis finger on the button he also energizes the car button relay CB atline 3 which closes its contacts in line 63. This completes a circutfrom lead 42 which is energized from the alternating current power lineL1 by way of the stop controls and the door switch 40, door open controlbutton 41, door relay contacts OP in line 57 and the motor generator setcontrol relay LR. From this lead 42 current flows through 2LR contacts(contacts of time delay relay that is energized when the car starts andreleases after the car stops and has had time to reverse if necessary tolevel itself with the floor) in line 62, through the car button relaycontacts CB in line 63, the auxiliary door closing control relaycontacts CLA and the coil of the directional locking time auxiliaryrelay TAl, then through the up or down directional locking relaycontacts in line 62 or 63. The locking time relay TAl thereupon isenergized and opens its contacts TAl in line 117 to de-energize thelocking timer relay T. After a brief time interval this relay thenreleases to open its contacts T in line 39 thereby unlocking thedirection locking relay UL. As soon as relay UL is released current mayflow through the car button relay contacts CB at line 63, through thenormally closed up locking relay contacts UL in line 60 and through theD1 contacts in line 59 to energize the down direction starting relays Dand DD at lines 59 and 60. Thisv may occur even though the starting timerelay TR has not yet released.

As soon as the starting down direction relay DD picks up it closes itscontacts at line 113 to energize the brake relay B1 1 and the downgenerator field control relay DF. These relays therefore condition theelevator controls for downward travel. As soon as the brake relayoperates to close its contacts at line 113 it energizes the motor timingrelay MT which in turn closes its contacts at line 114- to energize themain motor starting relay M. The elevator thereupon starts in itsdownward direction. It should be noted, however, that the circuitthrough the brake relay and the down direction field relay DP was notcompleted until the gate closed to close the gate contacts in line 1513.As the down generator field relay DF closed for downward travel of thecar the directional locking relay DL was energized and since the timingrelay T has again been energized, as the auxiliary locking time relayTAl was released as the car started, the down direction locking relay DLsealed itself in through the directional timin relay contacts T of line39.

As the car proceeds downwardly its brush 32 meets the selector machinecontact 33 corresponding to the third tloor. Since the car is movingdown the down direction relay D is energized so that current may nowflow through the bypass relay contacts 8? in line 78 through the nowclosed fioor relay contacts 3D in line 84, through the brush 32 at line85, the down relay contacts D, the leveling timer contacts TL, the coilof the slow down relay HS, and contacts DD of the down direction relayDD to the return line L2. it should be noted that the auxiliary controlrelay CLA was energized as soon as the down starting relay contacts DDclosed. As soon as the slow down relay H5 is energized it seals itselfin through its contacts in line 39 and conditions the controls todeceierate the car. The operation of the slow down relay HS aspreviously mentioned allows leveling timer contacts TL in line 1&5 toclose thereby preparing the icveling relays to take over the control ofthe stopping of the car. As the down direction magnetic switch HLD firstreaches the top of the third floor magnetic vane it closes or energizesthe leveling relay LD. This relay thereupon breaks the circuit (line 57)holding the down direction relays D and DD at lines 59 and 610 closed.It will be recalled that the circuit for holding these relays istransterred from the initiationg circuits in lines 6%) and 63 to thecircuit at line 5'7, which includes the brake contacts BK and theleveling relay contacts. As the down signal relays D and DD release thecircuit for the slow down relay HS is interrupted so that the relay HSis released. As the car proceeds further towards the third fioor themagnetic switches 2LD and ZLU close to operate the final leveling relay2L which, as previously mentioned, closes its contacts at line 93 tostart the opening of the doors. The final leveling occurs when themagnetic switch ZLD passes the bottom end of the vane thus decnergizingleveling relay L1) to interrupt the how of current through tl c brakerelay BK and the down generator field relay DP line 113. As thedoorsreach their open position the intending passenger on the third floorenters and registers his call on the car button terminal board. in sodoing by pushing the car button he energizes the car button relay CB soas to provide a start signal for the elevator. in this case since thedown direction locking relay BL is already energized one does not haveto wait for the direction locking timing relay to time out and allow thecar to start. As the car approaches the first iioor the selector machinecam opens the cam operated switch 8RD thereby tie-energizing the.directional relay D1 at line 3'7. D1 thereupon closes its contacts inline 88 12 to initiate the slow down and final stopping at the firstfloor.

As the car arrived at the third floor in answer to the down call itsbrush 17 in line 19 (Figure II) completed a circuit from the L1 leadthrough the reset coil 3DR of the third floor relay and then through thebrake relay contacts BK in line 29 and the up down relay contacts in thesame line. Thus as the car stopped at the third floor in answer to thatcall the floor relay was reset to cancel the signal so that another car,if more than one is operating, will not stop at that floor until anothersignal is subsequently registered. The down call at the fifth floor wassimilarly canceled as it was answered.

After the passengers left the car at the first floor suppose thatanother passenger immediately enters the car and desires to travel tothe third floor. By operation of the car button CB3 he registers hiscall for the third floor and at the some time operates the car buttonrelay CB to start the starting cycle in operation as previouslydescribed. After slowing down and: arriving at the third door the doorsopen and the passenger leaves.

Assume now that there are no further calls for service in which caseboth the U1 and D1 relays in Figure III are tie-energized. Since bothrelays are now de-energized the service relay contacts UD in line 52 areopen and the service rela' contacts UD in line 53 are closed.Deenergization of the service relay UD does not stop the motor generatorset since its control circuit is maintained through the motor run relaycontacts LR and motor generator timer contacts MGT in line 68.Furthermore, the door reclosing relay CL1 is de-energized so that itscontacts in line 53 are also closed. This permits current to flowthrough a motor driven door rcclosing timer T1 in line 53. Afterinterval of time somewhat longer than the ordinary passenger transfertiming interval the motor driven timing relay Tl operates to close itscontacts T1 at line 51 thereby energizing both the door reopening timerelay DTO and the door reclosin'g relay GL1. Door rcclosing relay GL1thereupon completes a circuit through its contacts CLll to hold itselfenergized and at the same time de-energizes the motor driven doorreclosing timer T1 by opening its contacts T1 at line 53.

The closure of the door reclosing relay DL1- in line 59 causes it toclose its contacts in line 9-2 and simultaneously open its. contacts CL1between lines- 91, and 92. The closure of the GL1 contacts in line 92energizes the door close relay C1 in line 92 so that the doors close.immediately. This leaves the elevator car parked at the floor with thedoors; closed and since there is no signal registered requiring, travelof the car the directional preference relays, U1 in line 25 and D1 inline 37 are. deenergized. During. this time: the motor generator timingrelay MGT in line 55 is energized through the now closed in-servicerelay contacts UD in line 53. This timer is set for a longer timeinterval than the door recloser timer and when it. times out it opensits contacts MGT'in line 68'therehy de-energizing the motor generatorcontrol relays to shut downthe motor generator set. As the motorgenerator run relay LR drops out with the release of the auxiliarystarting relay LSA the motor generator run relay LR contacts LR in line56 open to deenergize the timer MGT as. W611 as the starting controlcircuits. This leaves the entire elevator system shut down except foralternating current power supplied to the alternating current portion ofthe control system. This condition is the same as that assumed at thestart of the description of the operation.

Since the car was left standing at. the third floor and the doors areclosed the; car may respond: to any hall call in. the manner-previouslydescribed provided that the call is from a. floor other than the thirdfloor.

Response of parked car to calls from same' floor Assume. that anintending passenger on the third. floor desires elevator service andpresses either the up or down hall call button at the third floor Sinceit is desirable that he be given preference in the selection ofdirection of elevator travel over another passenger who may pressanother hall button in the interim between the time that the third floorpassenger pressed his button and the time that he could enter the carand register his destination call certain auxiliary circuits accordingto the invention are included in the control. These auxiliary circuitsprovide that if a call is registered from a hall control button when thecar is standing at that floor with its doors closed the doors willreopen and simultaneously the direction selection control circuits fromother floor relays will be cut ofi so that no energization of theup-down preference relays U1 or D1 may be made from such other floorsuntil after a time interval sufficient to allow the third floorpassenger to enter the car and register his destination call. The carbutton relays are not cut off from the control circuit and therefore adirectional preference is registered immediately upon the pressing of acar button.

The sequence of operations to provide this type of control may befollowed by tracing the signals through the circuits and observing theresponse of the various parts of the circuit. As the third floor hallbutton is pressed, whether it be an up call or a down call, thecorresponding floor relay coil 3U or 3D is energized to trip thecorresponding floor relay. Simultaneously the current flow through thetripping coil also flows through the hall button relay HB in line 10 sothat it immediately closes its contacts in line 14 to energize the doorreopening relay DO. Also note that the closure of the third floor relaycontacts 3U or 3D in lines 30 or 32 of Figure III does not energize theup or down selection relays U1 or D1 since the cams 26 or 27 hold thecam-operated switches on either side of the third floor junction open.It will be remembered that these relays or one of the relays operateimmediately upon the registration of a car call or a hall call for afloor other than the one at which the car is standing and that theserelays select the first call and ignore the second until all the callsrequiring travel in the first direction are answered.

Returning to the door reopening relay D in line 14, which is energizedas long as a hall button is held pressed, it will be noted that the doorreopening relay DO opens its contacts D0 in line 50 to therebyde-energize the auxiliary door close relay GL1. The auxiliary door closerelay GL1 thereupon opens its contacts in line 50 to de-energize thedoor re-opening timer relay DTO in line 51 and at the same time opensits contacts CL1 in line 92 and closes its contacts between lines 91 and92. The door reopening timer relay DTO in line 51 thereupon starts itstiming cycle and if it opens its contacts in line 52 before theinservice relay, energized from the directional preference relays, isenergized to close its UD contacts in line 52 the door timer relay dropsout to close its contacts in line 93 thereby energizing the door openingrelay OP. It will be remembered that the final leveling contacts or slowspeed leveling relay contacts 2L remain closed as long as a car isstanding at the fioor so that the circuit for the door opening relay OPis completed at line 93 as soon as the timing relay releases. The timinginterval for the door reopening timer DTO is quite short it being onlylong enough to distinguish between calls from the floor at which the caris parked and other calls. These calls are distinguished upon whether ornot the directional preference relays U1 or D1 is operated to operatethe inservice relay UD.

Immediately upon the energization of the door opening relay OP in line93, in the absence of energization of the service relay UD in line 68,current flows in line 15 through the now closed door opening relaycontacts OP, through the now closed service relay contacts UD and thecoil of a preference timing relay TA. This timing relay is energizedonly during the opening of the doors and is de-energized as soon as thedoors reach full open position provided that the motor generator set isrunning. If

the set is not running then a holding circuit is completed in line 16through normally closed running contacts LR and timer relay contacts TA.This holding circuit holds the timing relay TA energized until the motorgenerator set is brought up to operating speed. As long as the timingrelay TA is energized and during its timing interval after it isde-energized and until it releases, its contacts TA in line 26 are openthereby de-energizing the directional preference circuits through thecontacts of the floor relays. This prevents response to any other floorrelay during this time interval.

As soon as the third floor passenger enters the car he may press the carbutton corresponding to his destination floor thereby registering thatcall and energizing the car button relay to initiate a starting of thecar. As he pressed the car button relay and registered his call thecorresponding car button relay was tripped so as to close its contactsshown in Figure III and thereby energize either the up selection relayU1 if he desired upward travel or the down selection relay D1 if hedesired downward travel. The energization of either of these relaysenergizes the in-service relay UD in line 68 which through the circuitsin lines 65 to 68 and 113 and 115 starts the motor generator set if itwere not running and if it were running it through the circuits ofFigure IV starts the car.

If the motor generator set were already running the operation would bethe same except that the timing relay TA in line 15 would start itstiming interval from the time that the door reached open position.

One or more cars may be simultaneously operated in this manner as iswell known by paralleling the selector machine contacts that correspondto the stopping circuits for the various floors as shown in Figure V.Also the floor relays may be common to all of the elevators while thecar button relays are individual for each car. Likewise the controlcircuits in the remaining figures are duplicated for each of the cars.

The improved control circuit effectively prevents the annoyance thatresults when an intending passenger enters an idle car and presses a carcall button and then the car starts off in the opposite direction. Thisit does by disabling or disconnecting the hall call directionalpreference circuits until the entering passenger has had time toregister his call from the car button.

Various modifications may be made in the details of construction and inthe circuit diagrams without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, I claim:

1. In an automatic pushbutton controlled elevator, in combination, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall calls, means responsiveto car buttons for registering passenger destination calls, means forsignaling the position of such calls with respect to the elevator car,means for closing the elevator car doors after the car has served thelast call, means responsive to said signaling means for conditioning theelevator for movement toward the calling floor, and timing meansoperatively connected to said hall call registering means and saidconditioning means and arranged to delay the response of theconditioning means when said conditioning means are deenergized and ahall call is registered at the floor at which the car is then located.

2. In an automatic pushbutton controlled elevator, in combination, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall service calls, meansresponsive to car buttons for registering destination calls, means forsignaling the location of such calls with respect to the car location,means responsive to said signaling means for conditioning the elevatorfor car travel toward the calls, means for closing the elevator cardoors after the last call has been served, and timing means operated byre-opening of the doors in response to a hall call at the floor at whichthe car is located for disconnecting said signaling means from said hallcall registering means for a limited period of time.

3. In an automatic pushbutton controlled elevator, in combination, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall service calls, meansresponsive to car buttons for registering destination calls, means forsignaling the location of call with respect to the location of the car,directional controls responsive to said signaling means, means forclosing the elevator doors and deenergizing the directional controlsafter the last call has been served and no further calls are registered,and timing means operated by the opening of the doors in response to afloor call from a floor at Which the car is standing when no directionalcontrols are energized for temporarily disconnecting said signalingmeans from the control of said hall call registering means.

4. In an automatic pushbutton controlled elevator, in combination, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall service calls, meansresponsive to car buttons for registering destination calls, means forsignaling the location of calls relative to the location of the elevatorcar, direction of travel control means responsive to said signalingmeans, means for closing the elevator car doors as the car is parked ata floor after serving the last call and the directional control meansare deenergized, and timing means responsive to the re-opening of thedoors inresponse to a hall signal at the floor at which the car isparked adapted to temporarily open the circuits through the hall callregistering means to said signaling means, whereby an intendingpassenger at the floor at which the car is parkedris given time toregister his destination on the car button means in preference to hallcalls registered subsequent to his hall call and prior to hisdestination call.

5. In an automatic pushbutton controlled elevator, in combination, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall calls, means responsiveto car buttons for registering destination calls, means for signalingthe position of the calls with respect to the car, means responsive tosaid signaling means for determining the direction of travel of the car,means for closing the doors of the car When there is no demand forservice, timing means operable by opening of the doors after they havebeen closed because of no demand, said timing means being adapted tointerrupt operation of the signaling means form the hall callregistering means for an interval of time, and means for holding saidtiming means in operated condition during the time the elevator is beingreturned to service from a de-energized condition.

6. In an automatically controlled pushbutton elevator system, meansresponsive to hall buttons for registering hall calls, means individualto each ele 'ator and responsive to car buttons for registeringdestination calls, means for signaling the position of the calls withrespect to the position of the car, means for conditioning thedirectional controls of the car to answer the call in accordance withthe signals from the signaling means, means for deenergizing thedirectional controls and closing the elevator doors when there is nofurther demand for service, and timing means responsive to the openingof the doors of an elevator car the directional control of which isdeenergized adapted to interrupt temporarily the response of thedirectional control of such car to signals registered in said hallsignal registering means.

7. In a control for an automatic elevator system, in combination, aplurality of floor relays responsive to hall buttons for registeringfloor calls, a plurality of car relays individual to each car andresponsive to car buttons for registering destination calls, circuitmeans for each car including contacts operated according to elevator cartravel and contacts on said relays for signaling the location of callsrelative to the location of the car, means for determining the directionof travel according to said signal circuit means, saiddirectiondetermining means being tie-energized when no calls for service remainunanswered, means for closing the doors of a car after the last callhasbeen answered, a time delay relay that is energized as the doors areopened in response to a call and said direction determining means arede-energized, and contacts on said time delay relay that open when therelay is energized that are connected in circuit with contacts on saidfloor relays for relaying temporarily the response of the directiondetermining relays, whereby an intending passenger is afforded time toenter and select his direction of travel in preference to calls fromother floors.

No references cited.

